Daughter Dearest
by Kaleigh Windelynn
Summary: A short one shot of Peyton/Jake love.


**Well, hello there. I have been on a _One Tree Hill_ kick lately. I couldn't get this out of my he'd so here it goes. Once you get to the end of Season Two this is AU. I don't own _One Tree Hill._. just the plot _bunny._**

* * *

Peyton retreads the letter to Jenny...

 _Jenny-_

 _Daughter Dearest. These are the words that one day I hope to tell you. But today is not this day. I hope to one day be able to see you once more. One day I hope to tell you that I love you. And, one day I hope to be able to see the bright young lady I know you'll become._

 _There is not a day I will not think of you or your daddy. I truly love you and your daddy so much. As much as I would have loved watching you grow up and to help your daddy mold and shape you into a beautiful young lady, sometimes, my Daughter Dearest, you have to let your loved ones go in hopes that one day they will come back to you. I will always love you as though you were my own. I will always love your daddy. I will always wait for you to fly back to my heart._

 _Forever loving you my Daughter Dearest,_

 _Peyton Sawyer_

With a sigh, she packs it away in her diaper bag and places her daughter into her carrier. She kisses Jenny's forehead. "I love you Daughter Dearest," she whispers as she allows Coach to take her away…

* * *

Tric is hopping with the all ages night that started in their high school days. Peyton smiles as the memories fly through her mind as she watches the new crowd of seniors from Tree Hill High dance around laughing and smiling. She shakes her head and allows the music she is playing for them to take her by storm.

Seeing a flash of red and brown, she turns in time to catch both Haley James Scott and the soon to be Brooke Scott in bear hugs. She laughs as the girls jump up and down. This night is a far cry to the last senior club night that she planned at Tric for Karen.

"You never said you were coming back for the summer!" Brooke shrieks over the music. Haley nods in agreement. Peyton allows them to pull her away from the DJ station and to the seat around the bar. Karen and Lucas smile at the women as they clear away glasses and get new drinks out.

"When you said you got a teaching position at a local school, we didn't think you meant the open elementary school position here!" Haley adds with a smile.

Peyton shakes her head, her long blonde curls bouncing back and forth freely. "That was supposed to be a secret," she replies. She gives a hard look to Lucas and Nathan as they come to stand behind their significant others.

Luke and Nate both hold their hands up in mock surrender. "They couldn't keep their yaps shut!" Brooke says with a smirk while taking a sip from her drink. "These two are worse than old ladies at bridge club."

Haley agrees with a solemn nod. She snickers at Peyton's look. "We are so excited to have you though. I cannot wait to see you every day at work. We missed you Peyton," she says.

Brooke leans her head on Peyton's shoulder with a sigh. "It's been forever P. Sawyer. We don't intend to let you go now that we have you back," Brooke whispers.

Peyton smiles and gets up to go back to the DJ area and plays another mix. She watches as Brooke and Luke get up to dance and Nate and Haley have a whispered conversation between themselves. Her mind drifts to Jenny and Jake and where they might be. She wonders if Jake ever found Nicki to get Jenny back. Jenny would be turning seven in the winter. She turns to the entrance and sees herself standing at the top of the stairs just outside the door watching as Jake drives off to chase down Nicki. No other man had ever taken his spot in her heart.

With a shake of her head she sighs and finishes her night out with her friends and family. The summer flies by much the same way, nights DJing or bartending at Tric, spending time with her family, and making lesson plans for the upcoming school year.

The first few months of the school year are tough on all the kids and faculty. The transition from Summer Time to school time is a tough transition to make in Tree Hill with the fair weather and sunny days, but when fall hits, Mother Nature tends to hit hard.

It's the first cold weather front in early November to hit Tree Hill with an early frost. The icy rain pelts Peyton's classroom window hard. She looks out the window overlooking the backside of the playground while waiting for her first class of the day. She smiles as the bell rings on cue. Moments later Haley is escorting her second graders into the room. Haley makes a beeline for Peyton. She grabs her arm and turns Peyton back to the window.

"Haley, what-!" Peyton yelps.

Haley keeps Peyton firmly in her spot facing the window. "We have a new student," she whispers.

"Okay and that warrants your craziness why?" Peyton whispers back.

"Because it's Jenny Jaglieski!" Haley whispers. At Peyton's silent "Oh" Haley gives her arm a supportive squeeze and smiles softly. Haley leaves Peyton to teach her class. She turns and there at the front next to a little boy with bright brown eyes and light brown hair is Jenny. Suddenly, Peyton is sixteen again standing on the deck next to her Dad's boat as Jake hands off his guitar case and then he is looking at her and then she is in his arms as he hugs her.

Shaking her head, she smiles to her class and says, "Good morning my students. I hear today we have a new student." Jenny stands up. Her daddy's smile is on her face as she waves to Peyton. "And what is your name sweetheart?"

"My name is Jenny Jaglieski. What can I call you?" comes her soft reply.

"Well," Peyton starts. "The stuffy teachers prefer I be referred to as Miss Sawyer, however, I prefer to be called Miss Peyton."

Jenny nods. "It's nice to meet you Miss Peyton," she says as she sits back down.

"Alright, ladies and gents we are starting a new unit today. We are going to start covering how we see and understand people by using our art skills…." Peyton starts her class.

And the unit is such a hit with her class and the school that it is showcased at Parent-teacher night. Peyton sits in her room at the school a sketchpad in her hand and her fingers smudging a shaded area on the paper. A knock brings her out of her reverie.

A straggling parent clears his throat and she looks up. Standing in the doorway of her room is Jake Jaglieski. She takes a breath in and sets her sketch down. She stands suddenly feeling off kilter sitting on her stool.

The lopsided smile that Jake gives her puts her back in the jail when he first turned himself in. Crystal clear as day she is telling him that she loves him. She remembers feeling her heart pound out of her chest at the admission. And he tells her right back that he does too. His baritone voice draws her back out of her memories.

"I'm sorry? I didn't quite catch that…" she says quietly.

"Jenny loves your class. She comes home raving about you every day," he replies. He leans against a table. "I didn't know you wanted to teach Peyton."

She smiles. "Neither did I." She keeps herself on a short lead as she does not want to scare the poor man off, for that is what Jake Jaglieski is: the man that stole her heart. "I am so glad you found Jenny. I almost threw a party. How did that happen?"

"I had to petition the judge to put a warrant out for Nick's arrest on child abduction," Jake replies. "The amber alert system kicked it up to a federal case. She made a mistake when she used her own credit card. It flagged in a system somewhere near Austin two years ago. It took a year to get the legal stuff taken care. Finally got to bring her home again."

Peyton smiles softly. She turns away quickly when she feels the tears stinging in her eyes. She tinkers with a pencil as she sniffles softly. "That's great Jake. She seems well adjusted though… Doesn't act out when a lot of background things are going on…" Peyton says through her tears not knowing why on Earth she was even crying.

Jake laughs at that either not hearing her sniffles or just allowing her to gather herself, Peyton is not sure which. "Nicki tried to get her to hate me. Told her every day I would never find her. That you would never be able to call her daughter yours," Jake says. "I didn't understand how you came up into the trial until the evidence was submitted to the jury. You wrote a letter to Jenny when Whitey took her to Florida.."

He hesitates and she thinks she knows why. Her confessional moment. She sighs and feels Jake right beside her. He takes her hand in his and turns her to face him. Peyton tucks her chin down avoiding his piercing gaze. Fingers under her chin forces her eyes up to his as he cups her face in one hand and wipes away her tears with the other. He smiles softly. "Did you mean it Peyton?"

She lets out a strangled laugh and the tears fall harder. "Of course I meant every word!" Peyton cries out. "I love you both so much. You said as you were leaving that I deserved more. That I didn't need that. I couldn't Jake. I couldn't even try to move on. It didn't feel right. And, I was losing everything all at once. You went from jail to looking for Jenny.."

"Peyton…" He sighs and hugs her tight. "The day we got back to Tree Hill, she asked when she would get to see you again. At the time I didn't know the answer to that. I didn't know you were teaching here.. And then Jenny is coming home excited about Miss Peyton and all I could think of how cruel fate was to put another Peyton in Tree Hill. And then I saw you when I was dropping Jenny off a couple of days ago…. I won't let you go again Peyton. Never."

She laughs. A smile crosses her features. "A little presumptuous, aren't we Mr. Jaglieski?" she retorts.

That lazy smirk crosses his lips that makes her knees weak. "Never Miss Sawyer. Say you'll have me."

"Always.." Jake leans in and kisses her. The slow heat that took over her senses when she was sixteen flows through her veins.

"Daddy! Miss Haley and Miss Brooke…" Jenny's voice cuts off as she comes through the doorway and sees her daddy with Miss Peyton.

"Finally!" she nearly squeals as she launches herself across the room. The two break apart and smile at the seven year old.

Brooke and Haley follow behind her watching the two with wide smiles. Peyton blushes and picks up the girl from the ground and hugs her in much the same manner that she did when she was a baby. "My Daughter Dearest, I knew you'd come back to me."

Jenny smiles. Jake wraps his arms around both of his girls as Brooke and Haley back out of the room allowing the family to reacquaint themselves with one another...

* * *

 **Fin.**


End file.
